Computerized puppet theatre

ABSTRACT

A computerized puppet theatre ( 1, 100, 120 ) including one or more puppets P each  
     capable of performing visually discernible actions and/or translatory stage movements on a stage ( 6, 122 ) for playing the role of at least one character of a  
     puppet show in accordance with a computerized puppet show script. A computerized puppet show script may be either pre-prepared, or user directed and produced using a computerized script editing station and at least one hand worn manipulator ( 101 ) for controlling puppets.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention is in the field of game apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Children the world over are enchanted by storytelling, role playing, Punch and Judy shows, and the like.

[0003] To this end, various game apparatuses in the broadest sense are known in the art including inter alia:

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,611 to Bierwiler illustrates and describes an motorized children's marionette theatre including one or more puppets hanging from self-propelled puppet transport vehicles which may include additional mechanisms for imparting movements to a puppet's arms legs, etc.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,176 to Flicker et al. illustrates and describes a toy camera having a rotatable lens for actuating a posable doll mounted on a platform, and a viewfinder for viewing the doll so as to simulate a photography session.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,994 to Tong illustrates and describes an interactive computer controlled motorized doll in which a program source can operate one or more dolls provided with actuators for moving doll parts, a speaker, etc.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,602 to Kikinis illustrates and describes a PC peripheral interactive doll similar to U.S. Pat. No. '994.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,077 to Hongo illustrates and describes a game apparatus where characters corresponding to three dimensional toy bodies are displayed on a monitor, and controllers effect movements of the characters on the monitor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Broadly speaking, the present invention is for a computerized puppet theatre for staging puppet shows for children (a child hereinafter referred to as a user) of different ages ranging from pre-school age through to high school age for both entertainment purposes, for example, for staging Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood, and the like, and educational purposes, for example, for teaching popular science, history, and the like.

[0010] A basic version of the computerized puppet theatre of the present invention stages a pre-prepared puppet show particularly suitable for young users including reproduction of a soundtrack with narration, music, songs, etc, and optional lighting effects, in accordance with a computerized puppet show script. Each script includes instructions for visually discernible actions, for example, nodding, clapping hands, and the like, and/or translatory stage movements of each of its characters played by a different puppet. The puppets preferably have appearances corresponding to the characters which they are intended to portray but they also may have non-distinguishing appearances. The soundtrack is a preferably multi-track soundtrack such that different tracks can be played back over different speakers of a multi-speaker sound system, for example, to enable each puppet to play back only those parts of a script associated with its character, thereby rendering a more interesting, life-like performance.

[0011] A more sophisticated version of the computerized puppet theatre of the present invention enables older users to stage their own puppet shows by way of a script editing software application, and one or more hand worn manipulators each controlling a puppet's visually discernible actions, and its translatory stage movements. Additionally, one or more remote computerized puppet theatres can communicate with one another via an on-line chat site such that they each can simultaneously stage the same puppet show in a similar manner to an on-line bridge game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] In order to understand the invention and to see how it can be carried out in practice, preferred embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar parts are likewise numbered, and in which:

[0013]FIG. 1A is a pictorial representation illustrating a first embodiment of a computerized puppet theatre for staging a pre-prepared puppet show in accordance with the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 1B is a pictorial representation of a puppet of the computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 1;

[0015]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is a pictorial partially cut-away representation of the puppet of FIG. 1B;

[0017]FIGS. 4A and 4B are pictorial longitudinal cross sectional representations of the puppet of FIG. 1B with its right arm being raised and its right hand effecting a hand clapping action, respectively;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation of a second embodiment of a computerized puppet theatre in accordance with the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 6 is a pictorial representation illustrating a hand worn manipulator concealed in a glove puppet for use with the computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 5;

[0020]FIGS. 7A and 7B are pictorial representations illustrating the use of the manipulator of FIG. 6 for effecting a stage movement of a puppet between an extreme leftmost position (FIG. 7A) and an extreme rightmost position (FIG. 7B) on the stage of the computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 5, respectively;

[0021]FIGS. 8A and 8B are pictorial representations illustrating the use of the manipulator of FIG. 6 for turning a puppet from a front facing position (FIG. 8A) to a side facing position (FIG. 8B) on the stage of the computerized puppet theatre of FIG. 5, respectively;

[0022]FIG. 9 is a pictorial representation of a third embodiment of a computerized puppet theatre in accordance with the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 10 is a pictorial representation of a set of Batman and Robin portraying puppet exterior, and a CD storing computerized Batman and Robin puppet show scripts; and FIG. 11 is a pictorial representation of a puppet having a front side and a rear side each having a different appearance for portraying a different character.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] With reference now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a computerized puppet theatre 1 is configured as a battery or mains operated portable housing 2 having a base 3 and a cover 4 disposable between a closed position, and an open position enabling the staging of a pre-prepared puppet show. The base 3 includes a stage 6 having a pair of parallel grooves G1 and G2 each associated with a puppet transport device D (see FIG. 3) for sliding its associated puppet P therealong constituting a so-called translatory stage movement. The housing 2 has a speaker 7 connected to a sound system 8 (see FIG. 2) for playing back a soundtrack including narration, background music, special sound effects, and the like, and one or more spotlights 9 for illuminating the stage 6.

[0025] Each puppet P has a body portion 11 with a movable head support 12, a pair of movable arms 13A and 13B, and a speaker 16 connected to the sound system 8. The head support 12 is adapted to have an exchangeable puppet exterior 17 snap fitted thereon. Each puppet exterior 17 includes an appearance identifier device 18 for enabling computerized identification of its appearance for allocation of characters to puppets based on their appearance. Different puppet exteriors 17 are employed for staging different puppet shows.

[0026] The housing 2 has an ON/OFF switch 19, a volume control 21, a puppet show selection interface 22, a cassette player like user interface 23, computerized control circuitry 24 including a main controller 26, a flash memory 27, a communication controller 28, a LCD display 29 and the sound system 8 (see FIG. 2).

[0027] The puppet show selection interface 22 includes a COM button 22A, a SELECT button 22B, and SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons 22C and 22D. The COM button 22A controls the communication controller 27 for establishing a connection to a Website 31, an external data storage device 32, for example, a CD, a DVD, and the like, storing an inventory of computerized puppet show scripts. The SELECT button 22B selects a computerized puppet show script to be executed for staging a puppet show. The SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons 22C and 22D enable a user to scroll through computerized puppet show scripts stored in the flash memory 26.

[0028] The user interface 23 includes a PLAY button 23A, a STOP button 23B, a REWIND button 23C, and a FORWARD button 23D. The PLAY button 23A activates the main controller 26 for controlling the puppets P, the puppet transport devices D, the sound system 8, and the spotlights 9 for staging a puppet show on the stage 6 in accordance with the computerized puppet show script stored in the flash memory 27. The REWIND and FORWARD buttons 23C and 23D respectively rewind and forward the computerized puppet show script stored in the flash memory 27 in either slow mode or fast mode similar to a VCR, namely, in the slow mode, the puppet show is rewound or forwarded at regular play speed such that a user can arrive at a particular part of the puppet show whilst, in the fast mode, the puppet show is not staged.

[0029] With reference now to FIG. 3, a puppet's body portion 11 includes a lower section 37 which extends through its associated groove G, and an upper generally cylindrical section 38 disposed above the stage 6. The lower section 37 is formed with oppositely formed apertures 39A and 39B through which extends a rack 41 along which a puppet P is driven by a puppet transport device D constituted by a motor driven pinion 42 under the control of the main controller 26. The upper section 38 is rotatably mounted on the lower section 37 by way of a motor 43 under the control of the main controller 26, and is capable of being rotated through about 90° between a front position facing a user (see FIG. 8A) and a side position facing across the stage (see FIG. 8B). The upper section 38 includes an upper slot 44 through which extends the head support 12, and a pair of oppositely disposed arcuate slots 46A and 46B through which extend the arms 13A and 13B, respectively. The head support 12 can be rocked to and fro by a motor 47 under the control of the main controller 26 whereby the puppet head 17 can effect a head nodding action (see FIG. 4A). Each arm 13 is supported on a support rod 48 transversing a bearing 49 mounted in an arcuate support piece 51 having an outermost portion 52 slidingly mounted in its associated aperture 46. Each support rod 48 is rotatable by a motor 53 under the control of the main controller 26 whereby its associated arm 13 can be raised and lowered (see FIG. 4A). Each support piece 51 has a lower rack portion 54 engaged by a motor driven pinion 56 under the control of the main controller 26 whereby a puppet's arms 13A and 13B can effect a hand clapping action (see FIG. 4B).

[0030] The use of the computerized puppet theatre 1 is as follows:

[0031] A user depresses the COM button whereupon the list of available titles of computerized puppet show scripts is displayed on the LCD display and/or announced over the speaker. Sufficient time is provided between consecutive titles such that a user has sufficient time to consider whether he is interested in a particular title. On hearing a title of a puppet show that he is interested in watching, the user depresses the SELECT button whereupon the computerized puppet show script is downloaded to his computerized puppet theatre. The user presses the PLAY button for staging the puppet show on the computerized puppet theatre whereupon the computerized control circuitry checks whether the puppets have the correct puppet exteriors for portraying all the characters of the selected computerized puppet show script. If necessary, the user is instructed to clip certain puppet exteriors onto the puppets. The computerized control circuitry identifies which puppet is portraying which character by its appearance from its appearance identifier device and then proceeds to control each puppet in accordance with the character of the selected computerized puppet show script. At the same time that it is controlling the puppets on the stage, the computerized control circuitry plays back the soundtrack over the sound system, and operates the lighting system if instructions are also included in the selected computerized puppet show script. The script can be rewound and forwarded in either slow mode or fast mode as described hereinabove.

[0032] With reference now to FIG. 5, a computerized puppet theatre 100 is similar to the computerized puppet theatre 1 insofar that it can stage pre-prepared puppet shows but it enables a user to control the visually discernible actions, and the stage movements of a puppet P puppet on-the-fly by way of a hand worn manipulator 101 (see FIG. 6) concealed in a glove puppet 102. The computerized puppet theatre 100 can also be hooked up to a computer 103 running a script editing software application for transforming the computer 103 into a computerized script editing station for recording an entire original user directed and produced computerized puppet show script in a similar manner to a film producer producing a film. The computerized puppet theatre 100 has a port 104 for cable connection to the computer 103, and has four ports 106 for cable connection of upto four glove puppets 101 for controlling upto four puppets P. The computerized puppet theatre 100 may not necessarily be provided with its own sound system which instead the computer's sound system may be used for the purpose of staging a puppet show.

[0033] With reference now to FIG. 6, a manipulator 101 includes a control box 107 for comfortably nesting in the palm of a user's hand, and a finger activated selector 108 (not shown) for selecting the puppet P to be under its instantaneous control if there are more puppets P than manipulators 101. The manipulator 101 includes a sensor 109 for sensing a pincer-like finger movement denoted A of a user's thumb and middle finger for effecting a puppet's hand clapping action. The sensor 109 is constituted by a pair of oppositely disposed flex sensitive sensors 111A and 111B having finger sockets 112A and 112B for receiving a user's thumb and middle finger. Each flex sensitive sensor 111 includes a pair of leaf springs 113A and 113B sandwiching therebetween a force sensitive resistor 114. The flex sensitive sensors 111A and 111B are rotatably mounted on the control box 109 which includes a pair of potentiometers 116A and 116B for sensing up/down movements denoted B of the user's thumb and middle finger for independently raising and lowering a puppet's arms. An additional flex sensitive sensor 111C is interdisposed between the pair of opposite flex sensitive sensors 111A and 111B and is provided with a finger socket 112C for receiving a user's forefinger for sensing a finger bending movement denoted C for effecting a puppet's head nodding action. The manipulator 101 includes a fluid inclinometer 117 constituting a linear displacement sensitive sensor for sensing the orientation of a user's forearm between an upright orientation K1 (see FIG. 7A) and a flat orientation K2 (see FIG. 7B) across his body for effecting a stage movement of its associated puppet P from an extreme leftmost position L1 (see FIG. 7A) to an extreme rightmost position L2 (see FIG. 7B) along its associated groove G, respectively. The manipulator 101 includes an electronic compass 118 constituting a rotation displacement sensitive sensor for sensing the orientation of a user's hand between a so-called “palm facing out” orientation M1 in which the puppet P faces the user N1 (see FIG. 8A) and a so-called “palm facing sideways” orientation M2 in which the puppet P faces across the stage M2 (see FIG. 8B).

[0034] The use of the computerized puppet theatre 100 is as follows:

[0035] A user prepares a manuscript for a computerized puppet show script which he wishes to produce. The manuscript includes all the visually discernible actions, for example, clapping hands, nodding its head, etc, and stage movements of all the characters involved in his intended puppet show, and their narrations. In addition, the manuscript may include background music, sound effects, and lighting effects. Once the manuscript is ready, the user snaps the appropriate puppet exteriors onto the puppets whereupon he can now begin recording his puppet show. The script editing software application running on the computer identifies the puppet exteriors and records a separate track for each puppet. The tracks for the different puppets can be recorded consecutively or simultaneously depending on how many users are controlling the puppets. If a single user is controlling four puppets, he can switch between the puppets on-the-fly by pressing the selector on his manipulator. At the same time he is recording the tracks for the puppets, he can record a soundtrack. Once all the relevant script portions have been recorded, the user then edits the entire script adding background music, sound effects, and lighting effects to produce the final computerized puppet show script which can then be staged on the computerized puppet theatre in the same manner as a pre-prepared computerized puppet show script.

[0036] While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications and other applications of the invention can be made within the scope of the appended claims- For example, FIG. 9 exemplifies a computerized puppet theatre 120 employing a magnetic propulsion arrangement 121 for effecting multi-directional translatory stage movements of puppets P on a stage 122, and wireless communication between glove puppets 102, a computer 103, and the stage 122. FIG. 10 exemplifies a set of Batman and Robin puppet exteriors 123 and 124 for sale together with a data storage device 126, for example, a CD, a DVD, or similar, storing one or more computerized Batman and Robin puppet show scripts. FIG. 11 exemplifies a puppet 127 having a front side and a rear side each having a different appearance, say, a businessman 128 and a nurse 129, only one thereof being employable at any one time during the staging of a puppet show. The puppet 127 has an appearance identifier device 18 enabling identification of its two appearances when mounted on stage, and its disposition such that one or the other of its appearances faces a user. Puppets may not be motorized as illustrated and described hereinabove but instead may employ electrical current sensitive springs to effect their visually discernible actions. 

1. Computerized puppet theatre for staging a puppet show, the theatre comprising: (a) a stage; (b) at least one puppet each capable of performing visually discernible actions and/or translatory stage movements on said stage; and (c) at least one hand worn manipulator each capable of controlling at least one puppet of said at least one puppet for staging a user directed and produced puppet show.
 2. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising: (a) a computerized script editing station for recording a computerized puppet show script of the user directed and produced puppet show including the instructions for the visually discernible actions and/or translatory stage movements of said at least one hand worn manipulator controlled puppet; and (b) a computerized control circuitry for executing a computerized puppet show script for staging either a user directed and produced or a pre-prepared puppet show.
 3. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein a computerized puppet show script includes a soundtrack for playing back over a sound system.
 4. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein a computerized puppet show script includes instructions for operating a lighting system integrally formed with the theatre.
 5. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein each puppet of said at least one puppet is capable of assuming at least one appearance, and said computerized control circuitry is capable of identifying the at least one appearance of each puppet of said at least one puppet for allocation of the characters of the pre-prepared puppet show to the at least one puppet by appearance.
 6. The theatre as claimed in claim 5 wherein a puppet is adapted to receive an exchangeable puppet exterior for changing its appearance, each said puppet exterior having an appearance identifier device addressable by said computerized control circuitry for enabling identification of its appearance.
 7. The theatre as claimed in claim 5 wherein a puppet has a front side and a rear side each having a different appearance only one thereof being employed for portraying a character at any one time during the staging of a puppet show, and an appearance identifier device addressable by said computerized control circuitry for enabling identification of its two appearances, and its disposition relative to a user the staging of a puppet show.
 8. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein said computerized control circuitry instructs a user which characters are required to stage a pre-prepared puppet show.
 9. The theatre as claimed in claim 2 wherein said computerized control circuitry stages a pre-prepared puppet show on the condition that all its characters are portrayed on said stage.
 10. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a puppet is motorized for effecting its visually discernible actions in accordance with a computerized puppet show script.
 11. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a puppet includes electrical current sensitive springs for effecting its visually discernible actions in accordance with a computerized puppet show script.
 12. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator includes a selector for selecting which puppet of said at least one puppet is to be instantaneously under its control.
 13. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator includes a sensor for sensing a pincer-like finger movement of a pair of a user's fingers for effecting a puppet's hand clapping action.
 14. The theatre as claimed in claim 13 wherein a manipulator includes a pair of sensors for sensing up/down movements of the pair of user's fingers executing the pincer-like finger movement for independently raising and lowering a puppet's arms.
 15. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator includes a sensor for sensing a user's finger bending movement for effecting a puppet's head nodding action.
 16. The theatre as claimed in claim 15 wherein the user's finger controlling a puppet's head nodding action is interdisposed between his fingers for effecting the puppet's hand clapping action.
 17. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator includes a linear displacement sensitive sensor for controlling the position of a puppet on said stage.
 18. The theatre as claimed in claim 17 wherein said linear displacement sensitive sensor senses a roll orientation of a user's forearm between an upright orientation and a flat orientation with his forearm crossing his body corresponding to two extreme translatory positions of a puppet on said stage.
 19. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein a manipulator includes an angular displacement sensitive sensor for controlling the turning of a puppet on said stage.
 20. The theatre as claimed in claim 19 wherein said angular displacement sensitive sensor senses the twist orientation of a user's hand between a “palm facing out” orientation and a “palm facing sideways” orientation corresponding to two extreme rotational positions of a puppet on said stage relative to a user.
 21. The theatre as claimed in claim 1 wherein said manipulator is concealed in a glove puppet.
 22. For use with a computerized puppet theatre as claimed in claim 1, a computer program loadable into the computerized puppet theatre for staging a pre-prepared puppet show in accordance with a computerized puppet show script including instructions for the visually discernible actions and/or translatory stage movements of each character of its one or more characters, and a soundtrack for playing back over the sound system.
 23. The computer program as claimed in claim 22 wherein the computer program resides on a Website.
 24. The computer program as claimed in claim 22 wherein the computer program is tangibly embodied in a computer readable medium.
 25. For use with a computerized puppet theatre as claimed in claim 1, a puppet capable of performing at least visually discernible actions and capable of assuming at least one appearance each having an appearance identifier device associated therewith whereby a computerized control circuitry of the computerized puppet theatre is capable of identifying the at least one appearance of each puppet of said at least one puppet for allocation of the characters of the pre-prepared puppet show to the at least one puppet by appearance.
 26. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein a puppet is adapted to receive an exchangeable puppet exterior for changing its appearance, each said puppet exterior having an appearance identifier device addressable by said computerized control circuitry for enabling identification of its appearance.
 27. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein a puppet has a front side and a rear side each having a different appearance only one thereof being employed for portraying a character at any one time during the staging of a puppet show, and an appearance identifier device addressable by said computerized control circuitry for enabling identification of its two appearances, and its disposition relative to a user the staging of a puppet show.
 28. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein it is motorized for effecting its visually discernible actions in accordance with a computerized puppet show script.
 29. The puppet as claimed in claim 25 wherein it includes electrical current sensitive springs for effecting its visually discernible actions in accordance with a computerized puppet show script.
 30. A computer program for running a computerized script editing station for recording a computerized puppet show script of a user directed and produced puppet show including the instructions for the visually discernible actions and/or translatory stage movements of at least puppet under the controlled of a hand worn manipulator.
 31. The computer program as claimed in claim 30 wherein the computer program enables the recording of a soundtrack for playing back over a sound system.
 32. The computer program as claimed in claim 30 wherein the computer program enables the recording of instructions for operating a lighting system. 